so you have to scratch your head when the president spend the last week talking about saving big bird. >> election day, weeks away, getting a solid read on where the race stand is not easy. a new poll from the pew research center taken after the debate, shows romney has pulled ahead among likely voters. the president's acknowledged he wasn't on his a game at the showdown. >> after the debate, i had folks come up, don't be so polite. don't be so nice. >> reporter: but his campaign insists his performance didn't change the fundamentals of the race. >> what was being presented wasn't leadership -- that's salesmanship. >> reporter: the narrowing polls are making some democrats nervous. so the pressure is on vice president biden in his debate tomorrow night against paul ryan. republicans say paul ryan will be ready for battle. rob, sunny, back to you. >> karen, thanks a lot. tomorrow, the candidates for vice president who will meet face to face. our own martha raddatz will moderate. abc will carry it live. it all kicks off at 9:00 p.m. eastern tomorrow night. >>> the federal government is